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Everything you are saying here is orthogonal to the developments described in the story. A provincial government refused to honour bonds in a tiny development in their region and it caused a contagion across the country.. none of this has anything to do with the current rate of interest or the orderly federal default of Argentina and its re-issuance of bonds at generous rates.

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For two decades defaulting on your bonds was not be a big deal- witness Argentina. So a rando local politician thought it wouldn't be a big deal, because that's been most of his political career. And the way the bond market is now, it is not nearly as forgiving, so it became an enormous deal.

It is not a big deal if Argentina defaults on its bonds because they were already paying a huge premium because everyone expects them to default on their bonds, South Korean governments municipal to federal do not pay that premium because they are considered reliable - if there are doubts no one knows how to price their bonds - so they don't get bought. It has nothing to do with now vs then!

If you want an example of now vs then go try to buy some cybersecurity insurance for data breaches or flood insurance.. in those circumstances things have legitimately changed!

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